Carlos Zambrano is Ready to Pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies

Carlos Zambrano is pretty gigantic, but, after throwing one minor league outing for Clearwater last night – 4.1 IP, 81 pitches, no runs, three hits – he claims he’s ready to pitch for the Phils. Our good buddyDavid Murphy of Philly.com, who was in Clearwater last night, has more:

If it is up to Zambrano, he will be pitching on one of those telecasts within the next 2 weeks. Make no mistake, the righthander says he is ready. As in, 5 days from now. He knows the Phillies probably will want him to make one more start in the minors after an 81-pitch outing for Class A Clearwater last night. But after that?

“I’m ready,” he said after pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings in his first official minor league outing since signing with the Phillies 2 weeks ago.

Prior to his outing on Tuesday, Zambrano, who signed a minor league contact with the Phillies on May 15th, had appeared in two games with the club’s extended spring training team.

In an effort to build stamina, the Phils are hoping to keep Zambrano on a starter’s schedule, throwing every five days. With the next turn coming on Sunday, the Phillies have plenty of options for their newest rotation hopeful’s weekend. The Threshers play in nearby Dunedin on Sunday, while the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, Double-A Reading Fightins and the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs all have home contests that day.